November 22, 2024 • 20 mins
Dr Keith Ablow is a Johns Hopkins-educated psychiatrist now doing counseling and life-coaching. He’s written 16 books and appeared on TV over 1000 times. We'll discuss how Trump’s picks are far from “the business as usual” Washington, DC revolving door of Big Pharma, insurance companies, lobbyists and bureaucrats that have limited doctor-patient options and kept health care costs rising.Home » Keith Ablow, M.D.Some interesting info re RFK: A Simple Litmus Test for RFK Jr.’s Ideas | The Free Press
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, I'm Ross. Happy Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I appreciate your time, appreciate your company. So we have
a new incoming administration.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
The old boss is the new boss.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And I think a lot of people think a lot
of things about what Trump administration policy will be based
on things that he has said and done in the past. Immigration, right,
this war or that war. I think we have a
pretty good sense of what it's going to be like.
I think we have a much less of a sense,
(00:29):
or at least a confident sense of just what health
and medical policy will be like in the Trump administration.
It wasn't something he seemed to care about very much
the first time. And as a dude who drinks a
lot of doctor pepper and eats a lot of McDonald's,
I mean him, not me. You know, it just wasn't
his focus. And that's fine. You know, you don't have
to be focused on everything. But especially with the involvement
(00:54):
of Robert F. Kennedy Junior in the Trump campaign and
now his nomination to be Health in Human Services Secretary,
it seems like there's going to be a lot more
action around that range of issues. So joining us talk
about that and some other things as well.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Doctor Keith Ablow.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Keith is a Johns Hopkins educated psychiatrist and he's now
doing counseling and life coaching. And we'll actually talk about
his new business, which is called for Vita Health.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
If you want to go check it out the number.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Four vahealth dot com. We'll talk about that in a
bit as well. Keith has written I think sixteen books,
been on TV literally a thousand times, but he's made
the big time now that he's here on KOA.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Hi, Keith, hey man. Thanks. It's good to be part
of the big time. I like that. That's good.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You've earned it.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So, first of all, do you disagree with anything I
said in kind of setting up our conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I think these are momentous times, and you know, I
like to say the truth always wins in the end.
It can take a long time, but I think we're
going to see that unfold because they've been all manner
of sleights of hand in the healthcare industry that really
need to be addressed, from the FDA to hospitals, to
private practitioners, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And there's a chance now that that will happen. I'd
bet on it.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So I'm just gonna tell you kind of my overall
framing of RFK, and then I'm going to try to
remove any bias I have as much as possible from
the conversation and then just talk with you about.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
A range of issues.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
The analogy I've given about RFK on the show is
that imagine a restaurant that had incredible salads, some of
the best main courses you ever ate, but the side
dishes that you're required to eat or poisonous and can
either make you a little bit sick or maybe kill you.
(02:50):
And so would you go to that restaurant if you
know that the main course is going to be the
best meal you've ever had, but you have to eat
a side dish, it'll probably make you sick. At least
That's how I think about RFK. On the other hand,
I don't want to overgeneralize because there's lots of different
individual issues and he's really interesting on some of them.
(03:10):
So now I'll just open this to you to make
any broader commentary you want, and then we'll start getting specific.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, I think OURFK has a head of steam to
try to sort of perform a cat scan on multiple
aspects of the body of the pharma industry and the
medical industry.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
And what do I mean by that.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I mean that if you really start to unbundle things,
you start to see things that you'd say, well, that
probably doesn't make sense. How are those ingredients finding their
way into the food chain, the food supply, whether it's
a yellow dye or something else. I think he is
geared up appropriately to say, number one, the data doesn't
(03:54):
look reassuring, and so if it's making our kids sick,
that has to be documented, and let's look at the
data and be very honest about Then there's a secondary question,
which is, well, wait a second. If the data was
around and it was interpreted favorably for industry, who in
the government decided that that would happen, And what kind
(04:18):
of revolving door was there that suggested that people would
be made whole wealthier if they were to.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Turn a blind eye to some of the dangers.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
It extends, you know, not just to the side dishes
at restaurants or your analogy or metaphor is really good
right in terms of ingredients of foods, but even you know,
at the FDA, why is it we just accept that
it's the fact that in order to get something through
the FDA have to spend millions upon millions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
It has to be a patentable there for molecule.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Natural cures need not apply really for an FDA, you know,
cation for a disease. Why, because everybody already knows, well,
how could I ever afford that? How am I going
to put curcumen, which is made from the Indian spice trameric,
through the FDA and get them to agree, Hey, it
seems to treat depression almost as well as prozac or
(05:17):
just as well. Well, there's no appetite for that or
audience for that at the FDA, because they'll say, well,
you're going to have to find somebody to put zillions
of dollars into the process. We're not going to flex
the process in any way for this natural cure.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
We're not going to fund it. We're not going to
go over to NIH and have them pay for it.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Why, it almost looks like there's a lobby for the
farm industry that makes that highly unlikely.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So, first of all, I'll say, I think you understated
it when you talked about the cost of getting to an.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Approved drug in the US these days.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I think it's more like a billion dollars than some
number of millions of dollars, and it's pretty nuts, and
it's part of the reason that drugs are are so expensive.
And I personally have a lot of problems with the FDA.
I'll give you one example. I mostly doing okay now,
but for many years I had ongoing basically with sacroiliac
(06:14):
joint dysfunction, and I was in pain all the time,
and the only thing that helped me as far as
a medication was Viox. Now, viox increased heart attack risk.
I was a very very low heart attack risk to
begin with, so I wasn't particularly worried about it. They
took it off the market because of that, not just
because of the heart attack risk, but because Merk lied
(06:34):
about the heart attack risk, and that was pretty bad.
Mirk then created another drug, the generic name of which
is called etre coccib to replace viox, and it has
approved almost everywhere in the world, but not America, so
I have to buy it from India, and I do.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Luckily, I don't need it much anymore, but to.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Me, it I it seems to me like the FDA
is so afraid of lawyers that they're not taking care
of patients.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Well, that's right, I mean, and they're not afraid enough
of lawyers from say startup companies. So I actually consult
to this group in Australia that makes something called cavedecks.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
The founder, there's a good example.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
The founder, Kyle Hodgeits says that cavedets, which is cyclodextrin molecules,
they's sugar rings, little sugar rings that the.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Body doesn't metabolize.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
They go around the bloodstream and they collect fat molecules.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
No one disagrees with that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Kyle says it cured demivathosclerosis because it literally can take
the fat out of arterie walls. He says, okay, so
now doctors started giving it to clients, to patients. They're
patients who may have needed various procedures, are saying, well,
I don't think I need it because I don't have
angina anymore. And then they do calcium scores and their
(07:57):
calcium scores are plummeting. Right, calcium scores are an indication
of athosclerosis. Now, you know, Kyle, they're basically seizing cavedets
at the border. Now I think most of it's getting through,
but they're seizing it and burning it because they say, well,
you can't claim that it helps you with heart disease.
Say something else like it's heart healthy. Don't talk about athosclerosis,
(08:20):
the FDA says, And he's a curmudgeon and a tough guy,
and he's basically saying, no, I've got dodgers in the
United States saying that my patients are going to die
if they don't get this stuff. Why don't you put
a giant red label on it that say you disagree
and let it get through.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Maybe we study it together, Maybe we.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Collect all the data from the hundreds or thousands of
patients using it and decide later.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
No, the answer is no. Why is the answer no?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Maybe the answer ought to be, well, if people are
dying of cardiovascular blockages and they aren't even doing well
after getting stints, let's do it, you know. And I'm
not saying I know, but it makes me worry, like, well,
so is it the cholesterol medication folks who don't want
(09:10):
a natural substance out there that can clean out your arteries.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I'm not saying that.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
They've done sufficient double blind, controlled clinical studies. They haven't,
but this anecdotal evidence hard to imagine that you'd use
a gel with a complex sugar in it, and that
you'd be fooled into thinking that you don't have heart pain.
That's kind of weird. So in a case, I agree
(09:36):
with you completely. And there are so many examples of
generics too, Like I was one of the first doctors
in the United States to make ketamine available to my
depressed patients, many of whom had some suicidal ideation. Ketamine
the street drug, but it's a proof for pain, and
so doctors start to use it once they noticed, hey,
(09:56):
this is pretty good for depression. This really works, and
it works right away. So if you're thinking hurting yourself, man,
you get a ketamine infusion. Very many, many, many people say,
I don't feel that way anymore.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Now.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
The FDA has never approved ketamine for the treatment of
major depression. Ketmine generic ketamine is almost free, Like you
can get a month's supply of ketymine nasals frey for
sixty bucks at your local compounding pharmacy.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
What they did was.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Approved es ketamine, an isomer of the molecule that in
a mirror is only the left reflection of the molecule
made by a company. Guess how much that costs. That
costs about eighteen hundred a week, oh my god, as
opposed to sixty for the month, and you have to
(10:45):
have it done at the doctor's office for no reason,
and the doctor's office visits. So I'm like, wait a second,
it's no better than the generic, and the approved one
is like thousands a month, many thousands a month, and
you have to go to the doctor's office to use it.
(11:06):
Why wouldn't the FDA by Extensions say well, we're gonna
greenlight Genericada meane because there's no argument really that it
wouldn't work.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
So that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Look at chins.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So let's I could talk about this stuff forever. We
got about nine minutes left, so let's go through. Let's
go through some key things about RFK. Actually, I want
to take a moment here just before we get to RFK,
because I'm looking at your website for Vita health dot com.
And if folks want to look at Keith's website, the number.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Four vi Ta health dot.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Com because you were talking about like natural substances. So,
without being too infomercially, what are you what are you
doing here on this website?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, I'm you know, I'm really excited because when I
treat patients, treated patients for thirty years, I always would
harness the power of supplements in addition to medications, and it.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
You know, the American.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Psychiatric Association has this giant book with three hundred disorders
in it, and then the farmer industry matches prescription medications
which have horrible side effects to those conditions, and they say,
there you go, I want an approval for my drug.
I paid the billion and now I'm going to make
several billion whatever it is. But they are naturally occurring
(12:27):
herbs and minerals and other things that really work to
raise mood, to defeat brain fog, and to improve sleep.
So I'm offering those through for Vita Health on the
website for vitahealth dot com because it gives me great
joy actually to be able to say, listen, not everybody
should be diagnosed with an illness. Who's sad, But that's
(12:50):
what happens. You go to a barber, you get a haircut,
you go to a psychopharmacologist. They're going to meet with
you for ten minutes, do a checklist and say I
think this person qualifies for major depression.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Let's put him on X medication.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Which may have sexual side effects, weight gain side effects,
suicidal ideation that's caused by it. And there's a vast
number of people who really don't qualify five for those
diagnoses whose moods can be lifted or clarity, thought can
be enhanced, or sleep can be made better without a
pharma agent.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, very interesting stuff. I'm gonna look at it more
after the show. All right, I want to let's do
an almost lightning round regarding RFK and your expectations for
policy in the Trump administration on some issues, and one thing,
I just want to be careful. I mean, you talked
about RFK and being data driven. I don't believe he's
data driven. I think he claims he's data driven, but
he only but he cherry picks the data that confirms
(13:46):
what he wants to believe. For example, with vaccines, I
think he's absolutely full of it with vaccines, and I
think it's dangerous.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Do you what are you? Give me a quick comment.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
On RFK and vaccines, and then we'll move to some
other things where I think he's probably on time.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Well.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I think sometimes the truth is found by a vigorous
opposition of ideas at the extremes.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
His is an extreme.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Idea that most or most all vaccines don't really have
a place in our armamentarium.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I would say, well, I don't know that we're really that.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
I don't know that we have the data that the
polio vaccine caused autism.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I don't believe that. I don't know that we have
that data.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
So I hope that what we'll get is someone who says, Okay,
I'm not willing to accept this data blindly, and I
need the data convince me of it.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And when he has an opinion, I hope.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
There'll be vigorous pushback from folks who say, well that
that doesn't square with science.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
But in the case of the COVID vaccine, I think
he's got.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
A big point that, you know, there wasn't the data
to suggest that this was going to be the life
saving treatment with out any side effects or problems that
it was purported to be, and people made many, many,
many billions of dollars on it. Yeah, and so I agree,
by the way that as to a lightning round, I
don't know if that was lightning, but it can't be
(15:14):
absolute or extreme.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I think one thing where I think RFK Junior already
or two things where RFK Junior already has some traction
is food ingredients, food dies. You know, I'm seeing stuff
about how, for example, in Canada they use turmeric and
beat juice to color the fruit loops, and here we
use red number forty and yellow number whatever.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And you know, the cereal.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Companies say, well, there's no data to say that the
food dies are bad. And when we tried to use
the fruit colorings, consumers didn't like it, and so we
went back. But I you know, so I think this
is interesting because a lot of folks don't lack the
idea of more chemicals than necessary in their food.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So I think he's got a little traction here.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
But I also don't know if there's data to support
his opposition.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
I think there is data. I think there's a lot
of data on food dies and so forth. And sugar,
by the way, I think it's overwhelming that the amount
of sugar in the American diet is insanity and that
should be made clear. But there's so much to clean up.
He could take his pick. For instance, when you go
into a hospital, they will he's a tiny thing. If
(16:23):
you say, do not resuscitate me DNR. This is just
one tiny thing. The hospital interprets that. In most hospitals
says do not treat, try to get into an intensive
care unit if you have a DNR order, Now you
go to the intensive care unit when you're really sick
and need.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Not to code, right, like, I don't want to have
my heart stop, so let's go to the ICU. I
can't tell you the number of times.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
I've argued with doctors who say, well, why would I
transfer this person to the ICU they're DNR.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Well, no, that doesn't mean kill them, right.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
That means that means they happened to have their heart stopped,
they decided don't put don't try to start it again,
but don't make.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
It stop, right. So that's one tiny thing.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
Another issue is, you know the rapidity with which there's
anxiety to discharge.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
People from the hospital.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
I know beds are precious, but very often that results
in real misses in terms of the next level of
care that doesn't happen, and the whole medical industry has
fallen apart.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Do you think that?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Do you think the areas data good data to suggest
we should try to get these food dyes out of
let's say our breakfast cereal.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I do I think there's good data to get some
food dyes out of some foods. Now, you can't be
a politician alone, or even a lay person who's quite
smart and make those decisions. You have to tap signs.
You can't be a complete you can't turn a complete
death fear to science. So there has to be the data.
(18:06):
Otherwise nothing should be done that interrupts industry.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
All right, And last question for you, another one where
I think that the data is inconclusive but the conversation
is getting more interesting. Is Florida floridating water supplies. And
you know a lot of the data that seems to
say floride can do this that or the other thing
(18:30):
is involving much higher doses of fluoride than people are
getting in American water systems.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
So you know, as you.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Well know as a doctor, dose always matters, right, So
what are you you know, we got about a minute here.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
What are you thinking?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
How do you think this conversation about fluoride and water
systems is going to play out?
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Totally requires much more study because you can't, you know,
as somebody who loves science, you cannot do things by correlation.
You can't say, well, we have Florida in our way
and look at our rates of X, Y and Z.
It's like, well, okay, but there are many, many, many
factors that could be weighing in on that outcome. How
(19:11):
much water do you drink, which towns, which states.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So I think we've.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Really got to look at that because you know, even
when you think about dental health and gingivitis and terrible
gum disease and infections in people's mouths, these are real things.
So okay, maybe it doesn't go in the water, But
then what's the answer. It's what are you going to
do to get fluoride or people who need it?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, it's going to be a very interesting conversation. I
have to say, you know, I'm not an RFK junior fan,
but I do think he will inspire and catalyze a
lot of interesting and necessary conversations.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
And again I agree with him on some stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I think the FDA causes as many problems as it solves,
and it'll be interesting to see if RFK can actually
get Senate confirmation.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You can follow Keith Ablow at his website Keithablowablow dot
com and check out his new line of all natural
supplements brain fog and better sleep and stuff like that
at the number four v I T A Health dot com. Keith,
a pleasure to talk to you for the first time.
Thanks for doing this my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Russ.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
I hope you do it again and I'll always be available.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
All right, appreciate it, Keith, thank you. All right, we're
going to take a quick break, digest all that, perhaps
with the help of a natural supplement, and we'll be
right back
Good morning, I'm Ross. Happy Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I appreciate your time, appreciate your company. So we have
a new incoming administration.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
The old boss is the new boss.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And I think a lot of people think a lot
of things about what Trump administration policy will be based
on things that he has said and done in the past. Immigration, right,
this war or that war. I think we have a
pretty good sense of what it's going to be like.
I think we have a much less of a sense,
(00:29):
or at least a confident sense of just what health
and medical policy will be like in the Trump administration.
It wasn't something he seemed to care about very much
the first time. And as a dude who drinks a
lot of doctor pepper and eats a lot of McDonald's,
I mean him, not me. You know, it just wasn't
his focus. And that's fine. You know, you don't have
to be focused on everything. But especially with the involvement
(00:54):
of Robert F. Kennedy Junior in the Trump campaign and
now his nomination to be Health in Human Services Secretary,
it seems like there's going to be a lot more
action around that range of issues. So joining us talk
about that and some other things as well.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Doctor Keith Ablow.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Keith is a Johns Hopkins educated psychiatrist and he's now
doing counseling and life coaching. And we'll actually talk about
his new business, which is called for Vita Health.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
If you want to go check it out the number.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Four vahealth dot com. We'll talk about that in a
bit as well. Keith has written I think sixteen books,
been on TV literally a thousand times, but he's made
the big time now that he's here on KOA.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Hi, Keith, hey man. Thanks. It's good to be part
of the big time. I like that. That's good.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You've earned it.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So, first of all, do you disagree with anything I
said in kind of setting up our conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I think these are momentous times, and you know, I
like to say the truth always wins in the end.
It can take a long time, but I think we're
going to see that unfold because they've been all manner
of sleights of hand in the healthcare industry that really
need to be addressed, from the FDA to hospitals, to
private practitioners, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And there's a chance now that that will happen. I'd
bet on it.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So I'm just gonna tell you kind of my overall
framing of RFK, and then I'm going to try to
remove any bias I have as much as possible from
the conversation and then just talk with you about.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
A range of issues.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
The analogy I've given about RFK on the show is
that imagine a restaurant that had incredible salads, some of
the best main courses you ever ate, but the side
dishes that you're required to eat or poisonous and can
either make you a little bit sick or maybe kill you.
(02:50):
And so would you go to that restaurant if you
know that the main course is going to be the
best meal you've ever had, but you have to eat
a side dish, it'll probably make you sick. At least
That's how I think about RFK. On the other hand,
I don't want to overgeneralize because there's lots of different
individual issues and he's really interesting on some of them.
(03:10):
So now I'll just open this to you to make
any broader commentary you want, and then we'll start getting specific.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, I think OURFK has a head of steam to
try to sort of perform a cat scan on multiple
aspects of the body of the pharma industry and the
medical industry.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
And what do I mean by that.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I mean that if you really start to unbundle things,
you start to see things that you'd say, well, that
probably doesn't make sense. How are those ingredients finding their
way into the food chain, the food supply, whether it's
a yellow dye or something else. I think he is
geared up appropriately to say, number one, the data doesn't
(03:54):
look reassuring, and so if it's making our kids sick,
that has to be documented, and let's look at the
data and be very honest about Then there's a secondary question,
which is, well, wait a second. If the data was
around and it was interpreted favorably for industry, who in
the government decided that that would happen, And what kind
(04:18):
of revolving door was there that suggested that people would
be made whole wealthier if they were to.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Turn a blind eye to some of the dangers.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
It extends, you know, not just to the side dishes
at restaurants or your analogy or metaphor is really good
right in terms of ingredients of foods, but even you know,
at the FDA, why is it we just accept that
it's the fact that in order to get something through
the FDA have to spend millions upon millions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
It has to be a patentable there for molecule.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Natural cures need not apply really for an FDA, you know,
cation for a disease. Why, because everybody already knows, well,
how could I ever afford that? How am I going
to put curcumen, which is made from the Indian spice trameric,
through the FDA and get them to agree, Hey, it
seems to treat depression almost as well as prozac or
(05:17):
just as well. Well, there's no appetite for that or
audience for that at the FDA, because they'll say, well,
you're going to have to find somebody to put zillions
of dollars into the process. We're not going to flex
the process in any way for this natural cure.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
We're not going to fund it. We're not going to
go over to NIH and have them pay for it.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Why, it almost looks like there's a lobby for the
farm industry that makes that highly unlikely.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So, first of all, I'll say, I think you understated
it when you talked about the cost of getting to an.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Approved drug in the US these days.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I think it's more like a billion dollars than some
number of millions of dollars, and it's pretty nuts, and
it's part of the reason that drugs are are so expensive.
And I personally have a lot of problems with the FDA.
I'll give you one example. I mostly doing okay now,
but for many years I had ongoing basically with sacroiliac
(06:14):
joint dysfunction, and I was in pain all the time,
and the only thing that helped me as far as
a medication was Viox. Now, viox increased heart attack risk.
I was a very very low heart attack risk to
begin with, so I wasn't particularly worried about it. They
took it off the market because of that, not just
because of the heart attack risk, but because Merk lied
(06:34):
about the heart attack risk, and that was pretty bad.
Mirk then created another drug, the generic name of which
is called etre coccib to replace viox, and it has
approved almost everywhere in the world, but not America, so
I have to buy it from India, and I do.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Luckily, I don't need it much anymore, but to.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Me, it I it seems to me like the FDA
is so afraid of lawyers that they're not taking care
of patients.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Well, that's right, I mean, and they're not afraid enough
of lawyers from say startup companies. So I actually consult
to this group in Australia that makes something called cavedecks.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
The founder, there's a good example.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
The founder, Kyle Hodgeits says that cavedets, which is cyclodextrin molecules,
they's sugar rings, little sugar rings that the.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Body doesn't metabolize.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
They go around the bloodstream and they collect fat molecules.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
No one disagrees with that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Kyle says it cured demivathosclerosis because it literally can take
the fat out of arterie walls. He says, okay, so
now doctors started giving it to clients, to patients. They're
patients who may have needed various procedures, are saying, well,
I don't think I need it because I don't have
angina anymore. And then they do calcium scores and their
(07:57):
calcium scores are plummeting. Right, calcium scores are an indication
of athosclerosis. Now, you know, Kyle, they're basically seizing cavedets
at the border. Now I think most of it's getting through,
but they're seizing it and burning it because they say, well,
you can't claim that it helps you with heart disease.
Say something else like it's heart healthy. Don't talk about athosclerosis,
(08:20):
the FDA says, And he's a curmudgeon and a tough guy,
and he's basically saying, no, I've got dodgers in the
United States saying that my patients are going to die
if they don't get this stuff. Why don't you put
a giant red label on it that say you disagree
and let it get through.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Maybe we study it together, Maybe we.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Collect all the data from the hundreds or thousands of
patients using it and decide later.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
No, the answer is no. Why is the answer no?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Maybe the answer ought to be, well, if people are
dying of cardiovascular blockages and they aren't even doing well
after getting stints, let's do it, you know. And I'm
not saying I know, but it makes me worry, like, well,
so is it the cholesterol medication folks who don't want
(09:10):
a natural substance out there that can clean out your arteries.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I'm not saying that.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
They've done sufficient double blind, controlled clinical studies. They haven't,
but this anecdotal evidence hard to imagine that you'd use
a gel with a complex sugar in it, and that
you'd be fooled into thinking that you don't have heart pain.
That's kind of weird. So in a case, I agree
(09:36):
with you completely. And there are so many examples of
generics too, Like I was one of the first doctors
in the United States to make ketamine available to my
depressed patients, many of whom had some suicidal ideation. Ketamine
the street drug, but it's a proof for pain, and
so doctors start to use it once they noticed, hey,
(09:56):
this is pretty good for depression. This really works, and
it works right away. So if you're thinking hurting yourself, man,
you get a ketamine infusion. Very many, many, many people say,
I don't feel that way anymore.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Now.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
The FDA has never approved ketamine for the treatment of
major depression. Ketmine generic ketamine is almost free, Like you
can get a month's supply of ketymine nasals frey for
sixty bucks at your local compounding pharmacy.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
What they did was.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Approved es ketamine, an isomer of the molecule that in
a mirror is only the left reflection of the molecule
made by a company. Guess how much that costs. That
costs about eighteen hundred a week, oh my god, as
opposed to sixty for the month, and you have to
(10:45):
have it done at the doctor's office for no reason,
and the doctor's office visits. So I'm like, wait a second,
it's no better than the generic, and the approved one
is like thousands a month, many thousands a month, and
you have to go to the doctor's office to use it.
(11:06):
Why wouldn't the FDA by Extensions say well, we're gonna
greenlight Genericada meane because there's no argument really that it
wouldn't work.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
So that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Look at chins.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So let's I could talk about this stuff forever. We
got about nine minutes left, so let's go through. Let's
go through some key things about RFK. Actually, I want
to take a moment here just before we get to RFK,
because I'm looking at your website for Vita health dot com.
And if folks want to look at Keith's website, the number.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Four vi Ta health dot.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Com because you were talking about like natural substances. So,
without being too infomercially, what are you what are you
doing here on this website?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, I'm you know, I'm really excited because when I
treat patients, treated patients for thirty years, I always would
harness the power of supplements in addition to medications, and it.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
You know, the American.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Psychiatric Association has this giant book with three hundred disorders
in it, and then the farmer industry matches prescription medications
which have horrible side effects to those conditions, and they say,
there you go, I want an approval for my drug.
I paid the billion and now I'm going to make
several billion whatever it is. But they are naturally occurring
(12:27):
herbs and minerals and other things that really work to
raise mood, to defeat brain fog, and to improve sleep.
So I'm offering those through for Vita Health on the
website for vitahealth dot com because it gives me great
joy actually to be able to say, listen, not everybody
should be diagnosed with an illness. Who's sad, But that's
(12:50):
what happens. You go to a barber, you get a haircut,
you go to a psychopharmacologist. They're going to meet with
you for ten minutes, do a checklist and say I
think this person qualifies for major depression.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Let's put him on X medication.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Which may have sexual side effects, weight gain side effects,
suicidal ideation that's caused by it. And there's a vast
number of people who really don't qualify five for those
diagnoses whose moods can be lifted or clarity, thought can
be enhanced, or sleep can be made better without a
pharma agent.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, very interesting stuff. I'm gonna look at it more
after the show. All right, I want to let's do
an almost lightning round regarding RFK and your expectations for
policy in the Trump administration on some issues, and one thing,
I just want to be careful. I mean, you talked
about RFK and being data driven. I don't believe he's
data driven. I think he claims he's data driven, but
he only but he cherry picks the data that confirms
(13:46):
what he wants to believe. For example, with vaccines, I
think he's absolutely full of it with vaccines, and I
think it's dangerous.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Do you what are you? Give me a quick comment.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
On RFK and vaccines, and then we'll move to some
other things where I think he's probably on time.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Well.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I think sometimes the truth is found by a vigorous
opposition of ideas at the extremes.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
His is an extreme.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Idea that most or most all vaccines don't really have
a place in our armamentarium.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I would say, well, I don't know that we're really that.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
I don't know that we have the data that the
polio vaccine caused autism.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I don't believe that. I don't know that we have
that data.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
So I hope that what we'll get is someone who says, Okay,
I'm not willing to accept this data blindly, and I
need the data convince me of it.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And when he has an opinion, I hope.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
There'll be vigorous pushback from folks who say, well that
that doesn't square with science.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
But in the case of the COVID vaccine, I think
he's got.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
A big point that, you know, there wasn't the data
to suggest that this was going to be the life
saving treatment with out any side effects or problems that
it was purported to be, and people made many, many,
many billions of dollars on it. Yeah, and so I agree,
by the way that as to a lightning round, I
don't know if that was lightning, but it can't be
(15:14):
absolute or extreme.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I think one thing where I think RFK Junior already
or two things where RFK Junior already has some traction
is food ingredients, food dies. You know, I'm seeing stuff
about how, for example, in Canada they use turmeric and
beat juice to color the fruit loops, and here we
use red number forty and yellow number whatever.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And you know, the cereal.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Companies say, well, there's no data to say that the
food dies are bad. And when we tried to use
the fruit colorings, consumers didn't like it, and so we
went back. But I you know, so I think this
is interesting because a lot of folks don't lack the
idea of more chemicals than necessary in their food.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So I think he's got a little traction here.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
But I also don't know if there's data to support
his opposition.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
I think there is data. I think there's a lot
of data on food dies and so forth. And sugar,
by the way, I think it's overwhelming that the amount
of sugar in the American diet is insanity and that
should be made clear. But there's so much to clean up.
He could take his pick. For instance, when you go
into a hospital, they will he's a tiny thing. If
(16:23):
you say, do not resuscitate me DNR. This is just
one tiny thing. The hospital interprets that. In most hospitals
says do not treat, try to get into an intensive
care unit if you have a DNR order, Now you
go to the intensive care unit when you're really sick
and need.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Not to code, right, like, I don't want to have
my heart stop, so let's go to the ICU. I
can't tell you the number of times.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
I've argued with doctors who say, well, why would I
transfer this person to the ICU they're DNR.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Well, no, that doesn't mean kill them, right.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
That means that means they happened to have their heart stopped,
they decided don't put don't try to start it again,
but don't make.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
It stop, right. So that's one tiny thing.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
Another issue is, you know the rapidity with which there's
anxiety to discharge.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
People from the hospital.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
I know beds are precious, but very often that results
in real misses in terms of the next level of
care that doesn't happen, and the whole medical industry has
fallen apart.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Do you think that?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Do you think the areas data good data to suggest
we should try to get these food dyes out of
let's say our breakfast cereal.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I do I think there's good data to get some
food dyes out of some foods. Now, you can't be
a politician alone, or even a lay person who's quite
smart and make those decisions. You have to tap signs.
You can't be a complete you can't turn a complete
death fear to science. So there has to be the data.
(18:06):
Otherwise nothing should be done that interrupts industry.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
All right, And last question for you, another one where
I think that the data is inconclusive but the conversation
is getting more interesting. Is Florida floridating water supplies. And
you know a lot of the data that seems to
say floride can do this that or the other thing
(18:30):
is involving much higher doses of fluoride than people are
getting in American water systems.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
So you know, as you.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Well know as a doctor, dose always matters, right, So
what are you you know, we got about a minute here.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
What are you thinking?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
How do you think this conversation about fluoride and water
systems is going to play out?
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Totally requires much more study because you can't, you know,
as somebody who loves science, you cannot do things by correlation.
You can't say, well, we have Florida in our way
and look at our rates of X, Y and Z.
It's like, well, okay, but there are many, many, many
factors that could be weighing in on that outcome. How
(19:11):
much water do you drink, which towns, which states.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So I think we've.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Really got to look at that because you know, even
when you think about dental health and gingivitis and terrible
gum disease and infections in people's mouths, these are real things.
So okay, maybe it doesn't go in the water, But
then what's the answer. It's what are you going to
do to get fluoride or people who need it?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, it's going to be a very interesting conversation. I
have to say, you know, I'm not an RFK junior fan,
but I do think he will inspire and catalyze a
lot of interesting and necessary conversations.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
And again I agree with him on some stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I think the FDA causes as many problems as it solves,
and it'll be interesting to see if RFK can actually
get Senate confirmation.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You can follow Keith Ablow at his website Keithablowablow dot
com and check out his new line of all natural
supplements brain fog and better sleep and stuff like that
at the number four v I T A Health dot com. Keith,
a pleasure to talk to you for the first time.
Thanks for doing this my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Russ.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
I hope you do it again and I'll always be available.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
All right, appreciate it, Keith, thank you. All right, we're
going to take a quick break, digest all that, perhaps
with the help of a natural supplement, and we'll be
right back
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.